The SAT, which is held six times a year, is not offered on the Chinese mainland, and the nearest test center is in Hong Kong. Most of the top US universities require a candidate's SAT score. The number of mainland students taking the SAT in Hong Kong rose from 200 to 20,000 between 2003 and 2010, according to the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, and the figure is expected to exceed 40,000 this year. To cater to the growing demand for SAT training among mainland students, many agencies are working with tourism companies to provide an all-around service to transport them to Hong Kong. The average cost of the whole trip is about RMB 5,000, a little bit higher than other travel packages for shopping to this famous tax-free city. The gaokao, once the biggest event in a Chinese student's teenage life, now seems less intense. The number of students taking the exam has fallen for past four consecutive years, from 10.5m in 2008 to 9m this year, according to the Ministry of Education, reports China Daily